>>liberal and proud of it. >> eliot: one thing everyone in the so-called fiscal cliff negotiations agree on is the tax cuts should remain in the middle class. because john boehner refuses to bring any proposal to the floor unless his own party sports it, there is yet to be a vote in the house. i had a chance to discuss this ridiculous state of affairs with congressman chris van hollen earlier today. he had an answer for that crazy situation. >> the issue of the fiscal slope, what is the "state of play" right now. how do you assess the two positions? >> well, things remain in the air still. the president supported a very specific plan. you had speaker boehner come forward with something on paper but a lot less than met the eye he was not specific at all the cuts. i guess the good news is in the last 24 hours, they've talked on the telephone the speaker and president. we've got a long way to go. >> eliot: it presumes toward the end there will be some sort of compromise that kicks the can down the road. there is a procedural technique something called a motion to discharge that would permit